Why Is Yoo Jae-suk Missing from the Baeksang Nominees? Fans Issue Statement...

Some fans of MC Yoo Jae-suk have issued a statement demanding that the selection criteria and process for nominees be made public, after he was not nominated for the Entertainment Award at the 62nd Baeksang Arts Awards.

On April 14, fans posted a statement titled "We Request an Explanation for the Baeksang Arts Awards Nominee Selection" on an online community, pointing out, "The core of this controversy is not simply about excluding a specific person from the list of nominees."

Comedian Yoo Jae-seok. Screenshot from MBC's "How Do You Play?" video.

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They emphasized, "The more fundamental issue is that, even as the boundaries between platforms in the broadcast category are expanding, there has been insufficient explanation as to why Yoo Jae-suk and related entertainment content-which achieved high popularity and results during the judging period-were excluded from all major nominee lists."

They continued, "We cannot definitively say that someone must win, or that a particular nominee should have been excluded," but also argued, "Precisely for this reason, when a nominee selection result is announced that many people find difficult to accept, the organizers of the award ceremony have a responsibility to provide a more accountable explanation."

They demanded transparency regarding: ▲ the specific reasons for excluding Yoo Jae-suk and related entertainment content from the nominees; ▲ the detailed criteria and comparative principles applied in this round of nominee selection; and ▲ the core judging standards and comparison principles used for selecting nominees in the entertainment category of the broadcast division.

In particular, they stated, "Since the 59th Baeksang Arts Awards, web content has been included in the judging for the entertainment category, and both entertainment show cast members and creators have been considered as eligible for the award," adding, "Therefore, please explain which specific criteria and comparative principles were applied for this round of nominee selection, and whether those standards were applied consistently across all candidate pools."

Previously, the nominees for the 62nd Baeksang Arts Awards were announced, and fans expressed confusion and disappointment as the "National MC" Yoo Jae-suk-active across both television and YouTube-did not make the list for any major categories.

The nominees for Best Variety Show include MBC's "Extreme 84," MBC's "Rookie Director Kim Yeonkyung," SBS's "Our Ballad," Netflix's "Black-and-White Chef: Culinary Class War 2," and Coupang Play's "Office Workers Season 2." Nominees for Best Male Entertainer are Kwak Beom, Kian84, Kim Junho, and Choo Sung-hoon.

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